Africa Telecom articles from June 2001

Africa Telecom archives from June 2001

Algeria Begins Tender for Second GSM License (ALGERIA).(global system for mobile communication)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... Algeria opened a tender for a second GSM mobile license which will be granted in July and will offer another in December 2003, as part of its efforts to liberalize the telecommunications sector. The second GSM license will allow a private...

Fiber Optic Line Links Cotonou and Parakou (BENIN).(Benin Posts and Telecommunication Board,Titan and Alcatel form joint venture)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Benin Posts and Telecommunication Board (OPT) and a US Group, Titan, recently installed a 400-km fiber optic line linking Cotonou and Parakou. According to the director of Libercom in Benin, Ambroise Zinsou, the state-of-the art technology...

UUNET Botswana Gets Switched on (BOTSWANA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... UUNET Botswana, a WorldCom company, announced that it officially went live with its very small aperture terminal (VSAT) satellite dish on June 1, 2001. The dish is fully managed and owned by UUNET and will increase the speed and quality of...

Telecom Egypt Seeks Strategic Investor (EGYPT).(Merrill Lynch and Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Telecom Egypt hopes to find a strategic investor to buy between 20 and 34 percent of the state-owned firm within half a year, investor relations manager, Hatim el-Gammal, said. "We hope to find a strategic investor within six months,"...

Telecom Egypt Mobile Rivals Call for Level Playing Field (EGYPT).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... State-owned fixed line monopoly, Telecom Egypt, said it would pay fees to become Egypt's third mobile operator, but reiterated it would not buy a new license -- a sore point for its rivals. "We will have to pay fees for our mobile network...

LCC International Wins Contract from Click Vodafone (EGYPT).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... LCC International Inc., a global leader in wireless voice and data turnkey technical consulting services, has won a contract from Click Vodafone to perform deployment and overall project management services for phase three of the nationwide...

Eritrea Gets Mobile Telephone Service (ERITREA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Ericel, Eritrea's first mobile telephone company, initiated service on a trial basis on May 26. Ericel is 51 percent owned by private Eritrean shareholders and 49 percent owned by a consortium of international companies, including South...

Communication Plan to Be Ready by August (GHANA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The Minister of Transport and Communication, Felix K. Owusu-Adjapong, said that the government is implementing a set of measures to bridge the digital divide between Ghana and the rest of the world. In that connection, the Ministry is...

Ghana to Liberalize Telecom Market (GHANA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The Ghanaian government is to open up the telecom market to competition next February. Ghana Telecom and Western Telesystems Ltd. (WESTEL) are presently the only companies allowed to operate nationally in Ghana. The Ghanaian Trade and...

Kenya Needs $800 Million to Upgrade Telecommunication System (KENYA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Kenya needs to raise about $800 million over the next five years to upgrade its national telecommunications network, Telkom managing director, Augustine Cheserem, said. The first phase involves the installation of an optical fiber ring in...

Kenyans Dislike Paying for Voice Mail (KENYA).(Kencell Communications)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Kencell, Kenya's second-ranked mobile phone company, says 70 percent of its 150,000 subscribers have gotten rid of the voice mail service from their package. According to Kencell Communications managing director, Phillipe Vanderbrouk,...

Moroccans Warm to the Internet (MOROCCO).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... Forty-two percent of Moroccan Internet users have had access to the Internet for more than three years, according to a new study from IEC Marketing. Over a quarter of those have had access for more than five years. A further 39 percent...

Nigeria's GSM Project Attracts Foreign Telecoms (NIGERIA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Six foreign telecoms companies have submitted bids for projects planned by Nigeria's state-owned phone network, Nitel, using vendor financing terms which officials said underlined confidence in the country's economy. The projects include a...

Cyber Digital Receives 10-Year Telecommunications License (NIGERIA).(Nigerian Communications Commission)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Cyber Digital Inc., a manufacturer and software developer of wireless and landline digital voice and Internet switches, announced that it has received a 10-year telecommunications license from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to...

Nitel Signs Interconnectivity Agreement with Private Operators (NIGERIA).(Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Nitel, Nigeria's state-owned telecommunications company, has signed a new interconnectivity agreement with the eight private telecommunications operators in the country following eight months of negotiations. The new agreement covers...

MTN Nigeria to Roll-out GSM Service Early (NIGERIA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... MTN Nigeria announced that it will roll-out its GSM service in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria within the next three years, two years earlier than is required by the terms of their license. The company plans to provide the first...

Cyber Digital Details $26 Million Nitel Contract (NIGERIA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Cyber Digital Inc. announced the details of its $26 million contract with Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd. (Nitel). Under the terms of the agreement, Cyber Digital is contracted to install 10,000 voice lines using its proprietary digital...

Cyber Digital Signs Financing and Sales Agreements with Yaweh Corp. (NIGERIA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Cyber Digital Inc. has signed financing and sales agreements with Yaweh Corp. of Nigeria. Under the terms of the six-month financing agreement, Yaweh shall introduce investors to Cyber Digital for the purposes of marketing, promoting, and...

MTN Takes Delivery of GSM Equipment (NIGERIA).(Mobile Telecommunication Network)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN), one of the licensed GSM operators took delivery of vital telecommunications equipment to facilitate its planned commencement of GSM operations in July. The equipment which arrived in Murtala Muhammed...

Omomia to Establish Distributors for Cyber Digital's CSX PABX in Seven States of Nigeria (NIGERIA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Cyber Digital Inc. announced that it has signed an agreement with Omomia Associates of Nigeria to establish distributors for its CSX PABX in the seven states of Nigeria. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Omomia Associates shall have...

Cell-C Awards Siemens $220 Million to Build Network Infrastructure (SOUTH AFRICA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The winner of South Africa's third mobile phone license Cell-C has awarded Germany's Siemens a deal worth around $220 million over 18 months to build its network infrastructure. "It is for the network equipment, the rollout of the...

South Africa to Sell 20 Percent M-Cell Stake (SOUTH AFRICA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... South Africa's government said it would sell about 20 percent of its stake in mobile phone operator, M-Cell, and had started a process of attracting potential bidders. The government - which holds a 24 percent stake in M-Cell through transport...

Dimension Data Wins Outsourcing Deal from Absa (SOUTH AFRICA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... South Africa's biggest retail bank, Absa, has signed an IT outsourcing deal, worth 100 million rand a year with network services firm, Dimension Data. The deal will ensure closer cooperation and knowledge sharing in the areas of information...

Communications Users Association Officially Launched (SOUTH AFRICA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The Communications Users Association of South Africa (CUASA) was officially launched in Sandton, Johannesburg. Similar launch events are planned for Durban and Cape Town. Speakers at the launching event included Andile Ngcaba, director...

Didata and Proxicom Announce Merger Deal (SOUTH AFRICA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Dimension Data (Didata) and Internet consultant, Proxicom, have agreed to merge in a deal involving South Africa's biggest IT company paying an aggregate $448 million for the US firm. Under the deal, Didata would give Proxicom shareholders...

South African Mobile Row Ends (SOUTH AFRICA).(cellular phone contract)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The winner of South Africa's third mobile phone license, Saudi-backed group Cell-C, said it had settled a long and politically charged row with rival NextCom so it could get on with its network rollout. "Cell-C exercised its rights...to...

South Africa Telecoms Plans to be Released Soon (SOUTH AFRICA).
June 1, 2001... South African Communications Minister, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, said that the country's final telecoms policy plan would be released within weeks and would be little changed from a draft plan. "I don't think we will have a very great,...

Mobile Banking Comes to South Africa (SOUTH AFRICA).(Absa, Vodacom)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Absa Bank of South Africa has signed an agreement with Vodacom, one of two cellular operators in South Africa, to make cell phone banking available to its customers. Absa officials hope to have 10,000 cell phone bank users by the end of the...

UNET SA Collaborates with Syncrony to Deliver Shared Hosting Solutions to the Market (SOUTH AFRICA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... UUNET SA, a WorldCom company, has launched its shared hosting offering, UUhost Shared, in conjunction with Syncrony, a software development organization that provides user-driven content management systems for the Internet. The solution...

Siemens Wins US$52 Million Tanzania GSM Order (TANZANIA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Germany's Siemens AG recently won a $52 million order to supply mobile telecoms network infrastructure for the Tanzanian unit of South African telecom operator. Vodacom Siemens will supply GSM 900/1800 standard network and transmission...

Zimbabwe Firm Wins Stake in African Network Project (ZIMBABWE).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Zimbabwe's Tele Access Global Corp. Ltd. has won a 30 percent equity stake regional African telecom project, officials at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) said. Acting COMESA Secretary-General Sindiso Ngwenya said...

More Web Cafes to Open in Kampala (UGANDA).(Web City Cafe and Data Net)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Web City Cafe in conjunction with Data Net, is to open up more Internet cafes in Kampala and Africa, the chairman of the internet cafe, Benedicto Mutyaba, said. "As one of the leading Internet cafes in Uganda and Africa, we intend to open...

MTN Launches $3 Million Dual Band Network (UGANDA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... MTN Uganda recently launched its dual band network worth $3.5 million (about Shs6.3 billion). MTN's chief technical manager, Paul Meredith, said the launch of the dual band network coincided with the commissioning of MTN's second switch...

Nokia's 9210 Launched in Kampala (UGANDA).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
June 1, 2001... The Nokia 9210 communicator, was officially launched recently, but will be on the open market by July, senior Nokia official, Matti Perkinnen, said. He said, the 9210 model is one of the latest releases in the third-generation phones and...

MTN Launches Internet Exchange Link Facility (UGANDA).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... MTN Uganda has established a local Internet exchange point (IXP)v which will make local Internet connection cheaper and faster, MTN's sales and marketing general manager, Erik Van Veen, said. The IXP is a point through which all local Internet...

Telecommunications Union Launches Internet Training Center.(International Telecommunication Union)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has launched a multimillion dollar Internet training center initiative project for developing countries that will help close the gap in Internet and new economy skills. ITU project coordinator,...

Blue Country Networks to Deploy Mediterranean's First Optical Festoon Network.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Blue Country Networks, a carrier's carrier, has selected Nortel Networks as the exclusive supplier for the first festoon telecommunications network to be deployed in the Mediterranean Sea under an initial agreement estimated to be worth US$15...

Intelsat Opens First Office in Africa.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Intelsat celebrated the opening of an office in Johannesburg, its first in Africa, as the organization heads toward privatization this summer. "We have a relationship with Africa that goes back nearly four decades to 1965," Conny Kullman,...

Intelsat 901 Successfully Launched.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Intelsat announced that the Intelsat 901 communications satellite was successfully launched aboard an Ariane 44L launch vehicle. The first of the latest generation of Intelsat satellites, the Intelsat 901 features 72 C-Band and 22 Ku-Band...

Communications Users Association Officially Launched.(Communications Users Association of South Africa)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The Communications Users Association of South Africa (CUASA) was officially launched at an event in Sandton, Johannesburg recently. Similar launch events are planned for Durban and Cape Town. Speakers at the events included Andile Ngcaba,...